Creamer and the like



Oct. 29, 1940. F. o. c; BROWN CREAMER AND THE LIKE Filed May 4, 1939 INVENTOR FRED O. C. BROWN. r

U'flamc. G. Esme/n1.

ATTORNEY I Patented Oct. 29, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CREAMER AND THE LIKE Fred 0. G. Brown, Grand Rapids, Mich. Application May 4, 1939, Serial No. 271,747

3'Claims. (or. 65-31) My invention relates generally to a liquid container and more particularly to means for'preventing drip from spouts of any kind.

One of the main objects of my invention is to prevent the drops or dripping-s from the spout of my container, as, for instance, a creamer, from flowing downwardly to stain the-table linen.

Another very important feature of my invention resides in my structure whereby all protruding portions are eliminated and thus the washing of structures of this character does not result in increased breakage over the usual style of container.

And, along this same line, it will be understood that there are no pockets or corners which are more or less inaccessible and which thus might serve to house bacteria or the like.

And it is also to be noted that the cost of manufacture of my invention is not unduly increased. Additional objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a front View of a creamer constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the plane of line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a front view of a modified form of my invention.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane of line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, sectional, diagrammatic view illustrating the diminishing of the drop or drops during their downward travel.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the lateral and downward movements of the drop when flowing downwardly along the outer surface of the modified form shown in Fig. 4.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, C indicates a container or creamer having a base Ill and a wall ll of curved and continuous formation. The wall is formed with a spout l2 at a top portion thereof and may be thickened therebelow for the formation of the drop catching structure now to be described.

The spout l2, on its outer surface, at each side thereof, extends downwardly and inwardly toform a shallow groove [4 and a small rib or ledge 15 therebelow. See Figs. 1 and 2. The top of this rib lies substantially in a plane prolonged from the outer surface of the creamer wall ll.

Below the ledge or rib l5 the surfaces l6 slope downwardly and inwardly to the juncture line H whereupon the surface I8 starts. This surface I8 extends outwardly and downwardly, turning into the ledge IS. The ledge l9 does not protrude beyond the confines of the container. Thus, 5 washing of this container without breakage is facilitated.

Below the ledge IS the surface slants'inwardly and downwardly at 20 and then outwardly and downwardly at 2| until the confines of the con- 10 tainer are reached at which point another ledge 22 is formed, the top surface of this ledge 22 lying in the same plane as the outersurface of the container. The surface again similarly slants inwardly at 23, outwardly at 24 and then forms a 15 ledge 25.

Below the ledge 25 the surface slants inwardly and downwardly at 21, then outwardly and only slightly downwardly at 28 until it terminates in the surface 29. The surface 29 is in the same 20 circular plane as the outer face of the wall ll.

As is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the ledges I9, 22, and 25 are gradually stepped outwardly due to their flush location upon the cone shaped outer surface of the container. 25

The use of the container and its operation is readily apparent. inverting thereof substantially empties the-same but usually a drop or two of the contained liquid runs down the outside of the spout. In my invention, these drops are hindered 30 and stopped in their downward flow by my novel construction.

As is shown in Fig. 6, numeral 30 indicates a drop of fluid which-is adhering t the surface of the container and flowing downwardly there- 35 along. However, upon this drop 30 coming to one of the grooves it is partially sheared away and thus the size of the drop is materially diminished. Also, the drop must travel along a very increased amount of surface and it will be understood that 40 this likewise takes away particles from the drop and gradually decreases its size. Thus, the drop is quickly stopped from reaching the tabletop and soiling the linen thereon.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modification of my in- 45 vention. D illustrates the container generally. It

. has a bottom 50, a wall 5|, and a spout 52. See

Fig. 5. Underneath the spout, see Fig. 4, a series of grooves 53, 54, 55 and 56 are formed. The cross sectional shape of these may be as shown 5 in Fig. 5. The grooves may be curved in opposite directions as shown whereby the drop or drops of liquid which are flowing thereover may not only be caused to flow in a tortuous path but also may be separated to smaller drops.

As is shown in Fig. 6, the drop or drops may flow vertically over the ledges and grooves. For instance, the drop 30, shown in the upper position, may flow to the dotted line position 3| and during this movement it will be lessened in size.

As shown in Fig. 7, the drop may flow from the spout 52 as indicated by the arrow 12. It contacts the groove 53 and thus may branch laterally as at 13. The fluid now drops slightly straight downwardly at 14, then laterally and inwardly at 15, then downwardly as indicated by the series of arrows 16, then outwardly and slightly downwardly along the line 11, then downwardly at 18 and finally contact is made with the lowermost groove 19.

As a matter of fact, under usual conditions, the

drop or several drops come to rest in the groove 54 or the middle part of groove 55. The film of liquid along the several traversed paths, being thin, is quickly acted upon by the air, and thus additional use of the container, if a common carrier, as a pitcher, is possible without permitting the dripped drops from soiling the linen of the table.

It is to be appreciated that my invention may be applied to containers with or without a spout or lips to pour therefrom, as teacups, the deterring of drip structure or indentation arrangement being placed at the usual place where the contents are poured out, or where ones lips are placed in drinking therefrom, say one-fourth of the distance around the cup from the handle, in either or both directions.

In coffee mugs without handles the indentations could be more or less continuous. Also, this same structure could be used on milk bottles, medicine bottles, metal containers and the like.

Having carefully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a creamer having a spout the combination of a series of substantially horizontal grooves formed by cutting away parts of the creamer, said grooves being vertically spaced from each other at all points and being located below the spout and extending only partially around the creamer.

2. A creamer or the like having a thick wall, grooves formed therein on the outer surface thereof, said grooves being of V-shape cross section for the purpose described, said grooves being spaced apart vertically, all of the portions between the .grooves lying in the prolongation of the curved plane of the outer surface of the creamer, the top groove being the shortest, the bottom groove the longest and the remainder correspondingly graduated.

3. A creamer or the like having a thick wall, grooves formed therein on the outer surface thereof, said grooves being of V-shape cross section for the purpose described, said grooves being spaced apart vertically, all of the portions between the grooves lying in the prolongation of the curved plane of the outer surface of the creamer, said grooves being inclined somewhat from the horizontal in order to cause lateral shifting of the escaping drop of fluid for the purpose described.

FRED O. C. BROWN. 

